Collapsible container



' Feb. 5, 1957 M. H. BECKNEQR ETAL 2,780,382

I COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER- Filed Oct. 15, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 5, 195? M. H. BECKNER ETAL COLLAPSIIBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 15, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 5, 1957 M. H. BECKNER ET AL 2,780,382

' COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Filed Oct. 15, 1954 1 4 Sheets-Sheej/ 3 IN VEN TORS f United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Marshall H. Beckner, Washington, Pa., and John M.

Leahy, Detroit, Mich.; said Beckner assignor to Tri- State Engineering Company, Washington, Pa., a corporation of Maryland Application October 15, 1954, Serial No. 462,431 Claims. (Cl. 2206) Our invention relates to crates that are foldable when not in use and which may readily be transported and stacked by lift-fork trucks.

One object of our invention is to provide a crate which, while not of very great weight, is sturdy and will not readily be damaged in use.

Another object of our invention is to provide a crate having a heavy metal framework, but which is readily foldable to compact form for storage or shipment.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a crate;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 shows the crate in folded or collapsed position;

Fig. 4 is -a view showing a modification of the side wall hinges of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side view showing a modification of one of the hinges of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view on the line VIVI of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 shows a modification of the structure of Fig. 6.

The crate comprises end walls having vertical wires 10 welded to horizontal wires 11, the upper ends of the wires 10 being welded to angles 12. At their lower ends, the wires 10 are welded to angles 27 that form part of the end Walls. The side walls comprise vertical wires 14 welded in crossed relation to horizontal wires 15, and can be opened outwardly.

The deck and base comprises longitudinally-extending wires 16 welded in crossed relation to transversely-extending wires 17, these wires forming a mesh-like deck. As an underframe for this deck sheet, we weld channels 18 to the longitudinal wires 16, and bracing strips 19 are welded to the wires 16 and at their ends to the channels 18 and angles 20.

The lower horizontal wires 21 of the side walls are hingedly connected to longitudinally-extending deck wire 16 by a helical wire 22, at each longitudinal edge of the deck.

The ends of the channels 18 are welded to tubular side bars 23 whose ends are hingedly connected at 24 to tubular posts 25. The side bars may be alternatively of channel form as shown at 23a in Figure 7. The upper ends of the posts are welded to the angles 12, and they are also welded to the angles 27. Triangular stop plates 26 are welded to the posts 25, and as shown in Fig. 1, abut against the undersurfaces of the side bars 23, to prevent outward swinging of the upper ends of the posts and the end walls from the vertical position shown in Fig. 1.

The side walls have latch bolts 30 that are slidable into holes in the posts 25, to releasably hold the side walls in their upright positions. It will be seen that when the slide bolts are released and the side walls 14-15 folded inwardly to the deck, the posts 25, together with the end mesh 1415 and the angles 12 can be swung inwardly into overlying relationship to the folded side bars and the side walls, as shown in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4, we show another form of hinge for connecting the side wall members 1415 to the deck or underframe. In this instance, knuckles 32 are welded to the of the deck and the strap-like members 33 are welded to the side walls, the lower ends of these strap members being bent to knuckle form in alignment with the knuckles 32, to receive pintles 34. The pintles 34 may be of relatively short lengths instead of extending thefull length of the deck, to facilitate assembly and disassembly.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a modification of the hinge connection of the posts to the base members 23. instance, a U-shaped member 35 is welded to the bar 23, the upstanding legs of the U fitting between legs of a U- shaped member 36 that is welded to the leg 25. A hinge pin or pintle 37 extends through the wings or legs of these hinge members 35 and 36.

A stop plate 38 of generally triangular form corresponding to the stop plates 26 of Figs. 1 and 3 is welded to the leg at each corner of the deck, in such position and of such dimension that it will enter into the end of the frame tube 23 when the legs and end walls are swung to upright position, as shown in Fig. 5, thus giving more clearance below the deck, at the corners. In this case, as in Fig. l, the stop plates serve to give better stability to the structure as well as to relieve the hinges of weight. In the structure of Fig. 5, the plates 38 and the side walls of the square tubes 23 are perforated to receive locking pins 39 that will releasably hold the end walls and the legs against folding movement inwardly when the side walls 1415 are not in position or have been removed, for use of the structure with certain kinds of articles that do not need to be surrounded by vertical walls. Also, the wire mesh bottom 1617 can be omitted and articles of fairly large size can be piled directly upon the underframe members 18-49.

The hinge arrangement at 3536 is such that when the end walls with their legs 25 are folded inwardly, after inward folding of the side walls, there will be sufiicient clearance to permit the end walls to lie substantially fiat upon the side walls.

To facilitate stacking of the crates on one another, the legs 25 are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 as having protuberances 40 formed thereon or applied thereto, so that these legs can be readily placed on the upper ends of legs of another crate, the protuberances 40 extending into the upper open ends of such other legs at the four corners of the crate.

We claim as our invention:

1. A crate frame comprising deck members connected together in unitary relation, and provided with side bars at two opposite edges, post members hingedly connected to the side bars and foldable into parallelism with the side bars, the post members having leg portions extending below the deck, and stop membrs on the leg portions, in position to abut lower surfaces of the side bars and prevent tilting of the posts outwardly from their upright positions.

2. A crate structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the side bars are of hollow form longitudinally and the stop members are moved into the ends of these bars when the legs are swung to their upright positions.

3. A crate structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the side bar, posts and legs at each side of the frame, are in a common vertical plane, and each hinge comprises a pair of interfitting U-shaped members fastened to a post and a side bar, respectively, and pivotally connected together above the side bar.

4. A crate frame comprising deck members connected together in relatively crossed relation, and provided with side bars at two opposite edges, post members hingedly connected to the side bars and foldable into parallelism with the side bars, the post members having leg portionsextending below the deck, stop members on the leg por tions, in position to abut lower surfaces of the side bars and prevent tilting of the posts outwardly from their up 2,780,382 Patented Feb. 5,1951

In this right;posjt-ion-,and lockingelements engageable with the stoptmemberscandside bars, for releasably. holding the,

qgethenin; un amrelation-and providedawith side bars trtw. .uppq ite edges po t. me bers; hinge ly onnected;

the; idetbarszadjacent o the. ndsethereqfi: and; disposed. incommon vertical; planes at the edges 7 of the; deck, the post membersghaving leg portions extending below the deck 'hing e members connecting theposts at each side of the deck tortheadjacent side bar inposition for folding; the p osts;;upon the; upper, surfaces of; the side bars, and top-v mc be sa qarricdi y; hfilcgPQIfions- Qf'the. posts in 4 position to engage undersurfaces of the side bars when the posts. are in vertical position andv toprevent tilting; of--the posts outwardly from their: upright positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,337,167 Trego Apr. 13, 1920 2,070,070 Stoner t Feb. 9, 1937 2,579,655 Donald Dec. 25, 1951 2,732,967 Metcalf Ian. 31, 11956 FOREIGN PATENTS 308,424 Great Britian Mar. 28, 1929 

